Knowledge management, absorptive capacity and organisational culture: A case study from Chinese SMEs

Copyright © 2008 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below.Based on the analysis of an innovative medium sized enterprise from mainland China, this paper investigated the Knowledge Management (KM) issues by focusing on its KM enablers and process. This paper attempts to investigate how Chinese enterprises absorb knowledge from external sources; how they developed culture to facilitate Knowledge Management Processes (KMPs) and what major challenges they raise for the future by looking at the case study of a Chinese Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). The case study indicates that Chinese enterprises emphasised knowledge acquisition and the capacities of knowledge absorption, application, creation, sharing and integration as vital to sustaining competitive advantage for these firms. Corporative organisational culture also has significant impact on the KM in those enterprises

Knowledge Management Practice at a Bulgarian Bank: A Case Study

This paper reports on knowledge management (KM) practices in the customer service and lending departments of one of Bulgaria's top retail banks and investigates how KM processes can be further improved. The Bank's KM activities have been studied using observations, interviews and informal discussions for data collection. Findings were compared and contrasted with existing literature in similar contexts. Although rudiments of knowledge sharing are evident from the KM activities in different departments of the bank, the limitations such as resistance to change of the implemented KM systems are impeding the effectiveness of the knowledge management process. More training and incentives are needed to increase knowledge creation and sharing. Moreover, a clearly articulated KM strategy along with success criteria and commitment and support from senior management is needed. There is a severe lack of knowledge management studies in Bulgarian context in general and Bulgarian banking sector in particular. The authors' findings will potentially help in improving knowledge sharing practice as well as provide a valuable insight into knowledge management related issues in the Bulgarian context. The findings from this research can be useful to companies from Eastern Europe and other regions in improving their knowledge sharing practice

Investigating the impact of networking capability on firm innovation performance:using the resource-action-performance framework

The author's final peer reviewed version can be found by following the URI link. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Purpose The experience of successful firms has proven that one of the most important ways to promote co-learning and create successful networked innovations is the proper application of inter-organizational knowledge mechanisms. This study aims to use a resource-action-performance framework to open the black box on the relationship between networking capability and innovation performance. The research population embraces companies in the Iranian automotive industry. Design/methodology/approach Due to the latent nature of the variables studied, the required data are collected through a web-based cross-sectional survey. First, the content validity of the measurement tool is evaluated by experts. Then, a pre-test is conducted to assess the reliability of the measurement tool. All data are gathered by the Iranian Vehicle Manufacturers Association (IVMA) and Iranian Auto Parts Manufacturers Association (IAPMA) samples. The power analysis method and G*Power software are used to determine the sample size. Moreover, SmartPLS 3 and IBM SPSS 25 software are used for data analysis of the conceptual model and relating hypotheses. Findings The results of this study indicated that the relationships between networking capability, inter-organizational knowledge mechanisms and inter-organizational learning result in a self-reinforcing loop, with a marked impact on firm innovation performance. Originality/value Since there is little understanding of the interdependencies of networking capability, inter-organizational knowledge mechanisms, co-learning and their effect on firm innovation performance, most previous research studies have focused on only one or two of the above-mentioned variables. Thus, their cumulative effect has not examined yet. Looking at inter-organizational relationships from a network perspective and knowledge-based view (KBV), and to consider the simultaneous effect of knowledge mechanisms and learning as intermediary actions alongside, to consider the performance effect of the capability-building process, are the main advantages of this research

A Task-Based Approach to Organization: Knowledge, Communication and Structure

We bridge a gap between organizational economics and strategy research by developing a task-based approach to analyze organizational knowledge, process and structure, and deriving testable implications for the relation between production and organizational structure. We argue that organization emerges to integrate disperse knowledge and to coordinate talent in production and is designed to complement the limitations of human ability. The complexity of the tasks undertaken determines the optimal level of knowledge acquisition and talent. The relations between tasks, namely, complementarities or substitutabilities and synergies, determine the allocation of knowledge among members of the organization. Communication shapes the relation between individual talent, and governs the organizational process and structure that integrates disperse knowledge to perform tasks more efficiently. Organization structure can also be deliberately designed ex ante to correct bias of individual judgement, the extent to which is dependent on the attributes of tasks. Organization process and the routinized organizational structure are the core of organizational capital, which generates rent and sustains organizational growth. This task-based approach enriches the existing body of organization studies, in particular the knowledge-based theory of the firm and the dynamic capabilities theory.task-based approach, complementarities, tacit knowledge, codifiable knowledge, code,vertical communication, horizontal communication, organizational architecture, decision bias

Intellectual Capital Architectures and Bilateral Learning: A Framework For Human Resource Management

Both researchers and managers are increasingly interested in how firms can pursue bilateral learning; that is, simultaneously exploring new knowledge domains while exploiting current ones (cf., March, 1991). To address this issue, this paper introduces a framework of intellectual capital architectures that combine unique configurations of human, social, and organizational capital. These architectures support bilateral learning by helping to create supplementary alignment between human and social capital as well as complementary alignment between people-embodied knowledge (human and social capital) and organization-embodied knowledge (organizational capital). In order to establish the context for bilateral learning, the framework also identifies unique sets of HR practices that may influence the combinations of human, social, and organizational capital

CREATING THE FUTURE KNOWLEDGE WORKER

The article aims to determine if the economic and business higher education institutions contributes to the creation of the future knowledge worker that organizations need in the new economy. In order to achieve this goal a case study was developed. After analyzing the number of graduates, reputation and experience of all the 15 faculties of economics registered in Romania, we selected the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration from “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iaşi to be the unit of analysis. This is one of the oldest economic higher education institutions, has almost 2000 graduates per year and is the third provider of economists for labor market. We applied a content analysis to 108 courses taught to undergraduates in Faculty of Economics and Business Administration from “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iaşi. The matters of investigation were the education goals, practical assignments topics, and teaching and evaluating methods. Conclusions showed that the courses taught to the undergraduates’ level are not oriented towards teamwork, communication, and use of information technologies. As a consequence, the graduates will not be able to respond efficiently to knowledge economy challenges and will represent a vulnerability for the organization because they will be “one step behind” what’s happening on the market.economic higher education, human resources, knowledge economy, knowledge worker, teamwork skills.

Interactions of Organizational Culture and Collaboration in Working and Learning

This paper reports the methodologies and findings of research done into learning processes in two diverse environments. The research focused on identifying factors that enable and facilitate social learning. These factors are discussed in view of the preliminary architecture and in view of the sociotechnical environment within people work and learn. The paper concludes by suggesting that the development of information system requires an understanding of the cultural and interpersonal issues prevalent in work environments.Knowledge Management, Organizational culture, Organizational learning, Socio-tehnical approach

Team Learning: A Theoretical Integration and Review

With the increasing emphasis on work teams as the primary architecture of organizational structure, scholars have begun to focus attention on team learning, the processes that support it, and the important outcomes that depend on it. Although the literature addressing learning in teams is broad, it is also messy and fraught with conceptual confusion. This chapter presents a theoretical integration and review. The goal is to organize theory and research on team learning, identify actionable frameworks and findings, and emphasize promising targets for future research. We emphasize three theoretical foci in our examination of team learning, treating it as multilevel (individual and team, not individual or team), dynamic (iterative and progressive; a process not an outcome), and emergent (outcomes of team learning can manifest in different ways over time). The integrative theoretical heuristic distinguishes team learning process theories, supporting emergent states, team knowledge representations, and respective influences on team performance and effectiveness. Promising directions for theory development and research are discussed

Knowledge Engineering Technique for Cluster Development

After the concept of industry cluster was tangibly applied in many countries, SMEs trended to link to each other to maintain their competitiveness in the market. The major key success factors of the cluster are knowledge sharing and collaboration between partners. This knowledge is collected in form of tacit and explicit knowledge from experts and institutions within the cluster. The objective of this study is about enhancing the industry cluster with knowledge management by using knowledge engineering which is one of the most important method for managing knowledge. This work analyzed three well known knowledge engineering methods, i.e. MOKA, SPEDE and CommonKADS, and compares the capability to be implemented in the cluster context. Then, we selected one method and proposed the adapted methodology. At the end of this paper, we validated and demonstrated the proposed methodology with some primary result by using case study of handicraft cluster in Thailand